Video: whistles and clashes: what happened in the Al-Ahli and Al-Wasl battle?
A ferocious attack
Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia against Al Wasl of the UAE in the second round of the AFC Champions League Elite gave us far more than a contest on the pitch. The match collapsed into one crisis after another. Jeering during the Saudi national anthem came first, then a violent altercation between the players, before things flared again as Saleh Abu Al-Shamat left the field injured.
Trouble arrived before the opening whistle. Al Wasl's fans jeered their way through the Saudi national anthem, a scene that angered a number of Al Ahli players and hung over the encounter from its earliest moments.
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Tensions soon spread onto the grass as the contest intensified, and the match hit one of its hottest moments when Saleh Abu Al-Shamat became involved in an altercation with Al Wasl player Adrielson Silva.
Abu Al-Shamat is assaulted and the altercation ignites
Gestures and words flew between Abu Al-Shamat and Adrielson, and then the Al Wasl player struck the Al Ahli winger on the head. Down he went, amid anger and protests.
Questions followed over how the referee handled it, especially as the altercation developed into clear physical contact. He did not show a red card to any of the players involved in the events.
That incident was not the end of Abu Al-Shamat's troubles. The Al Ahli player was forced to leave the pitch injured around half an hour before the end of the match, carried off on a stretcher cart amid a charged atmosphere.
His departure then became a new chapter of tension. The player made gestures towards Al Wasl's fans that were understood as mocking them and calling on them to come down, inflaming the anger of those in the stands.
Water bottles chase Abu Al-Shamat, and the referee without cards
Water bottles rained down on him as he went off, according to the footage circulating, whether from the direction of the stands or close to Al Wasl's substitutes' bench. The scene sharpened the controversy over the match and raised questions about how tension is controlled and players protected as they leave the pitch.
Count the flashpoints: the jeering during the national anthem, the assault on Abu Al-Shamat, then the water bottles as he left injured. The referee did not show any cards during these events, according to what was reported in the details of the incident.
An Asian tie had become a controversial night, with calls growing for a review of what happened and firm action against any transgressions, so that the squabbles do not overshadow football itself.
